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Dear John: I have been informed that uninsured losses from Hurricane Sandy can be deducted from taxes. But I am a bit confused on two points, and no one can answer me.

There is a “deductible” of 10 percent of gross income before taking the loss. May I assume that is line 22 on Form 1040? If not, which line?

Also, in which year is the loss deductible? It is now mid-November, and it will be months before I will know all the costs associated with the repairs on my house, which I must do before I can replace my appliances.

If I spend $10,000 this year and $10,000 next year, and have a gross adjusted income of $100,000, splitting it into two years means no deductible. And if some expenses are not realized until after April 15, 2013, and all the losses go into the year it occurred (2012), can I file an amended return for 2012? M.B.

Dear M.B. I asked the New York Society of Certified Public Accountants, and this is the answer:

“The casualty loss can be deducted on your 2012 tax return to the extent it is more than $100 and it exceeds 10 percent of the amount on Line 38 of your Form 1040, which is where you put your adjusted gross income. The deduction is taken in the year of the loss, not the year of repair.”

The group also said that if any of the loss is covered by insurance and you are not sure of the reimbursement amount, the deduction is postponed until the final tally is in.

The NYSCPA says you can also deduct the loss in 2011 by electing to file an amended return.

Dear John: I am a small-business owner in NYC, and our practice has been cut off by Sandy. We were without electricity for a long time. We have had no income since then.

So I called my mortgage company, Emigrant Mortgage, to tell them I would probably be late paying. They were totally uncompassionate and told me they have no policy in place at all.

Dear N.K. I called Emigrant, which is now working with you.

You have now spoken with Emigrant’s president, and you’ve gotten two months’ grace period on the money owed.

As you know, when the misunderstanding was brought to Emigrant’s attention, the bank also pointed out other assistance available to people in your predicament.

The bank was clearly embarrassed by what happened in your case, which we’ll chalk up to one overworked employee and a lot of frayed nerves.

And, by the way, Emigrant donated more than $2.3 million to help first responders affected by the storm.